The present invention relates to an improved wet mop. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a cordless wet mop including a scrubbing assembly and a vacuum assembly for collecting dirty water from the floor to achieve a clean and substantially dry floor surface.
Mops for cleaning floor surfaces generally include an absorbent mop or sponge head and some type of wringing mechanism for wringing dirty water out of the mop or sponge head. In particular, the mop is used in conjunction with a bucket of cleaning liquid, usually consisting of water with a cleaning additive. The mop absorbs the cleaning liquid which is used to scrub the floor. Once the mop has been contaminated by scrubbing the floor, it is inserted back into the bucket to rinse the mop and to absorb additional cleaning liquid. The continuous introduction of the dirty mop into the clean liquid in the bucket quickly contaminates the clean liquid in the bucket and reduces the cleaning ability during a remainder of the mopping operation. Thus, it would be desirable to prevent contamination of the cleaning liquid during a floor cleaning operation. In addition, it would be desirable to eliminate the approximately 15 minutes of floor drying time necessary with conventional mop and bucket cleaning.
Suction squeegees have been proposed which remove cleaning liquid from a floor surface which has previously been cleaned. One such suction squeegee device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,199. However, this suction squeegee device does not eliminate the problem of contamination of the clean water bucket because a conventional mop and bucket must be used to clean the floor prior to use of the suction squeegee device. In addition, this suction squeegee has the disadvantage of requiring three or four separate devices to perform the cleaning operation including the suction squeegee, a mop, a mechanism to wring dirty water out of the mop, and a bucket.
Another suction cleaning apparatus has been described which provides a combined scrubbing and water pick-up apparatus for cleaning and drying a floor surface. This device includes a combined clean water and dirty water tank with a flexible membrane separating the clean and dirty water in the tank. Clean water is dispensed from the tank and a cleaning nozzle is provided including bristles or brushes used for scrubbing. After scrubbing, a suction system is activated to remove the dirty water from the floor and the dirty water is collected in the tank.
Examples of combination scrubbing and water pick-up devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,986,764; 3,020,576; 3,040,362; 3,040,363; and 3,060,484. The devices described in these patents have several drawbacks including the cumbersome size and weight of the device, the need for a power supply cord which gets in the user's way, and the safety concerns associated with the use of household voltage in combination with a water filled device.